An Unsolvable Puzzle
by SongWriter18
Summary: Starting off as a reply to 2-17's ep. This is how I think everything could've gone down. I stink at summaries, please read though, it is better than it sounds! Nina/Fabian, Patricia/Eddie maybe some Jerome/Mara
1. The Messages

Jerome looked at Mara, wide-eyed with fear for Trudy. Of course, the 'Help Me' scrolling down the side could've been a coincidence, but the fact that Trudy had no nieces and nephews, and something hidden in the pit of his stomach told him it wasn't.

Mara sat next to Jerome. "But what _from?_"

"I don't know," Jerome said honestly. And he _hated _not knowing. He'd gone into the library to find out about the gem, and just gotten himself in a deeper, more urgent mystery. Trudy's life.

Mara looked down at the paper, taking it from Jerome. "What do we do? We need to help her!" She said urgently.

Jerome shook his head. "I don't know, Mara. I don't know. We have no idea whatsoever what she needs help from, or where she is!"

Mara looked down, trying not to cry. "Poor Trudy," she said.

Eddie stood behind Patricia and Piper, grinning. It all made sense now! He felt like congratulating Patricia and her twin, but he also wanted to ask her why her twin had been impersonating her.

Mr. Sweet stood in front of the twins, pointing at both of them, unsure which was really Patricia. "You have a lot of explaining to do Miss Williamson!" he said.

The real Patricia sighed, trying not to give in, but they were making a scene. "I-I…"

"Perhaps we should sit down," Eddie said, trying not to laugh.  
>Mr. Sweet nodded. "Yes, I have a hunch this will be a long story."<p>

Patricia closed her eyes, then nodded, Piper sat in the vacant seat awkwardly, praying for her sister's sake she wouldn't get in too much trouble.

Patricia walked over to the table and sat, sinking low in her seat. She tried to avoid looking at Eddie, but when she peeked at him, she saw him smile at her, and then he reached for her hand. Patricia was surprised, having been sure he'd be angry with her.

Mr. Sweet saw them grasp hands, though, and his expression turned even sourer. "Okay, Miss Williamson. Spill."  
>Patricia bit her lip. She sighed, knowing she had to tell the truth, but hoping not to get Piper thrown back to Milan. She gestured to her sister. "This is my twin sister, Piper. She… had some trouble and came here when there was no where else to go, she was staying with me, because our parents are out of town, and she had no where else to go. And… I just really not good at being all proper and nice in restaurants, and, I just wanted to make a good impression, so…"<p>

"I offered to come!" Piper jumped in. Patricia looked at her, confused, but Piper continued. "I knew this meant a lot to Patricia, so I said I'd come. But then, when I left to go to the bathroom, she was here and you spotted her, and… it's entirely my fault."

"No," Patricia said, trying to protect her younger-by-five minutes sister. "It's my fault."  
>The twins looked at each other, both not wanting to blame each other. "It's both our faults." They said in unison.<p>

Patricia looked at her boyfriend and her dad. "I'm sorry I lied, I should've just come and been myself, but…"

"It's okay," Eddie said, still grinning.

"No, it certainly is not!" Sweetie said.

Piper jumped in. "Please, don't expel Patricia!"

"Please don't send Piper away!"

Mr. Sweet glared at them. "Why shouldn't I?"  
>Eddie looked at Patricia and her twin, worry etched into their identical faces. He looked at Sweetie. "Dad," he said. Mr. Sweet looked up, surprised. Eddie had never called him dad before. "Please."<p>

Sweetie looked from his son to Patricia to Piper, his chest rising and falling with indecisiveness. He wanted to punish the girls for making a fool of him, but he didn't want to make his son hate him. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, I will not send Piper away, but… you have to tell Victor and get her a room to sleep in for the time being. And Patricia…" He looked at her. "You have a month of detention, and… I want you to come to dinner again, for real, as you this time." He looked at the mess behind him. "Hopefully we will not cause such a scene again."  
>Patricia nodded. "Okay."<p>

Eddie smiled at Patricia as he helped her into the cab after her sister. He slid in next to her and grinned, not unsettled to see two Patricia's, because they were so different. Patricia turned to him. "Why aren't you mad at me?"

"Look, I appreciate you trying to impress my dad. And it all makes a lot of sense. I really like you the way you are and…" he turned to Piper. "No offense, but I didn't get it when it was Piper. I didn't understand why 'you' were acting so classy, I like you how you are, and it made me feel like you were trying to be someone you're not. It's nice to know it wasn't you, and you really are the Patricia I thought you were."

Patricia smiled at him. "Thanks, but, you aren't mad that I sent my sister in to go on a date with you?"

Eddie shrugged. "Yeah, I am, but when you crawled out from under the table when we were about to kiss, it shows that you do like me, and you wanted a real date, but weren't comfortable with having dinner with my dad- especially when he's your principal. And I _totally _get that."

Patricia smiled and leaned her head on Eddie's shoulder, who put his arm around her. Piper smiled to herself, happy her sister had finally found someone she liked.

Nina beamed, excited, as Fabian looked down at the phone and examined the Zodiac. "There's a sarcophagus, a clock… could these be the reflectors?"

"Or where to look," Nina suggested.

Fabian looked up, grinning. The pair jumped up, rushing down to the main hall. Fabian examined the sarcophagus, while Nina looked at the old grandfather. She examined the entire clock, checking the mechanics of it, and the face, but never finding the bird insignia. She signed. "Nothing here."

"Nothing here either," Fabian said, taking out his phone to examine the Zodiac chart once again.

Nina sighed, and Fabian walked over to stand before her. "Don't worry. We _will _figure this out, Nina. We're in this together, no one is going to give up on you."

Nina smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Fabian nodded. They turned to walk back up the stairs dejectedly, but at that moment, the door swung open, and Patricia, Eddie, Piper and Joy sauntered in. Nina and Fabian stopped, staring back and forth between Patricia and Piper, eyes wide.

"Yeah, freaky, right?" Joy said.

Nina nodded, and Patricia and Piper smiled. "This is my twin, Piper," Patricia said.

Nina smiled, sticking out her hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nina."

Fabian shook her hand. "Fabian."

Nina smiled, looking at Fabian, who still had the picture of the Zodiac pulled up on his phone.

"Patricia, can we talk to you?" Nina said urgently.

Patricia looked at her twin and Eddie. "I'll be up to your room in a few minutes, okay?"

Nina and Fabian nodded and walked up the stairs, followed by Piper, leaving Patricia and Eddie alone.

Nina had her feet propped against the wall, her history book open on her stomach. "Um, Athena?" Nina answered, racking her brains to think of the Greek god of beauty.

"No, Aphrodite," Fabian corrected her.

Nina rolled over, throwing her book on the bed beside her. "It's no use, I'm totally going to fail that test."  
>Fabian smiled at her.<p>

Nina lay back again, pulling out the sheet of paper Fabian had given her, all of the meanings of the hieroglyphs written down in the circle Zodiac. She read it over once again. "Wait," she said, looking at the words, in Fabian's perfect scrawl, reading 'house'. "Why would it say 'house'? That could be anywhere!"

"I'm not sure," Fabian said, snapping his history book closed and looking at the picture of the zodiac once again.

Nina sighed, glancing around the room. Her eyes fell upon the dollhouse, and her heartbeat increased. "Fabian, what if… it's the dollhouse?"

The two rushed over, searching the dollhouse, but finding nothing. "We need help, Sarah!" Nina muttered.

Suddenly, a light glowed in the window to Victor's office. Nina gasped and opened it, pulling out a slip of paper and reading it. 'The raven is watching'.

Nina sat back, shaking. "Fabian, it's Senkhara. She's invaded even the dollhouse."

Fabian put his arm around her, trying desperately to comfort her, thinking. Then, a crazy, brilliant though occurred to him. He gasped. "Nina, wait!" He said, jumping up. "The light glowed in Victor's office, and the clue is about ravens. What if it's Corbierre?"

Nina gasped, her eyes wide. She jumped up, throwing her arms around Fabian. "Fabian, you're a genius!" She cried. She pulled away slightly, feeling awkward, but liking it at the same time. She realized with a jolt, that she missed Fabian. She stopped, looking at him. Her heart pounded, but she leaned in, pressing her lips to his.

Amber barged into the room, then stopped cold. "Whoa, am I interrupting something?" She said.

Nina pulled away from Fabian and glared at her.

"I am, aren't I?" she said, backing out the door. "Sorry!" she cried, closing the door. Through it, Fabian and Nina could hear her squeal. "Fabina!"

Nina grinned at Fabian, and the two kissed again.

**I was going to write a little more to it, but I think I'm just going to end that chapter there. I may start adding more to it after new episodes, what do you guys think? Review! ~S~**


	2. Shattered

**So, I know in the last chapter, I made Fabina get together, but, I like to keep it true to the show, so I'm going to make this a reply to yesterday's episode, how I feel the problems could be solved.**

Nina's heart was pounding with fear, and she subconsciously grabbed Fabian's hand, squeezing it. She needed something to hold on to or she felt as if she'd collapse.

Victor unraveled the cloth desperately, wringing it out and shaking with rage. He looked at the empty bag in horror and glared at Alfie. "What have you done?"

Alfie gulped. "I- I'm sorry! I messed up, it was supposed to disappear and I was going to bring it back without a scratch on it!" He cried.

Victor was shaking with rage.

"What is the big deal, Victor?" His special guest asked.

Victor turned, trying to hide his worry and rage, attempting to stay calm. He turned back to Alfie.

"Mr. Lewis, you are going to pay for that!" he roared.

Alfie stepped back, nodding. "I'm sorry, Victor!"

Everyone stood, frozen as Victor glared down at Alfie. "You. You will pay for that, Mr. Lewis."

"Ah, Victor, it's all done now. I will take care of the costs, the performance was quite great, actually." The special guest pulled out his wallet, handing Victor some money.

Victor took it, sliding it into his pocket, but Nina knew he hadn't meant money. He was still quite furious. Victor took the small bag and swept the pieces of his locket into it, sitting down, and glaring at the students. "You are all dismissed." He said with a wave of his hand.

Everyone exited the room, and the Sibuna gang crowded around Alfie. "Why did you _do _that, Alfie? We told you to keep it simple! You've ruined our chance to get behind that door along with Victor's!" They cried.

A bit of Alfie's fear disappeared as he grinned. He pulled up one sleeve to reveal… the amulet, swinging off of his wrist.

Amber gasped. "Magic!"

Alfie smirked at her, and Nina sighed in happiness. "Alfie, you are brilliant!" She cried. "Thanks for taking the fall for us," she said. "Sorry Victor is probably going to punish you."  
>Alfie shrugged. "No, all he can give me is an earlier curfew, or toilet duty, and you did tell me not to smack it. It's okay."<p>

Everyone grinned. "Okay, tonight, we go back to the tunnels and find out what is behind that door," Nina said.

Patricia, Fabian, Amber and Alfie nodded in agreement. "Sibuna," they said in unison, putting one hand over their right eyes.

Only then did Fabian and Nina realize they were still grasping each others' hands. They blushed and let go. "Thanks," Nina whispered. "I needed something to hold onto, I thought…"

"It's no problem," Fabian said quickly. "I was worried too. I thought it was in there too."

The pair smiled, and everyone arrived at Amber and Nina's room. Nina looked at her group of friends, thankful she wasn't doing this all alone. "Okay, tonight at midnight, we go back down to the cellar to try out that door, deal?"

Everyone nodded and said Sibuna once more before going their separate ways.

The Sibuna team was gathered around the door, Nina at the head with her own amulet around her neck and Victor's in her hand. She stepped forward, taking the amulet and pressing it to the indentation in the wall, holding her breath. With barely a whisper, the stone rolled away, revealing a small room. It was obviously a dead end, but there had to be something.

Nina rushed forward without thinking, and behind her, her friends called out, a bit worried it would be booby trapped. But there were no traps, and nothing in the room at all, it seemed. Nina sighed, her shoulders sagging. "There's nothing here."  
>"No, there's got to be!" Fabian protesting, following her in. He looked around, also seeing that there were no boxes or reflectors in the room. He searched the room desperately, determined to not give up on Nina. He looked at her sad expression, then smiled. "Nina, your locket is glowing again!"<p>

Nina looked down excitedly, walking around the room until she found another secret lock.

"What amulet opens this one?" Amber asked excitedly, hoping it was hers.

"It's not an amulet."

Everyone sighed, aside from Fabian, who could see the lock. His heart pounded. "No way."

Nina sighed, her eyes wide, as she examined the hand. She held out her own, wondering if it would open it.

"Wait, Nina, what if it hurts you?" Amber protested, approaching and seeing the hand.

"It won't," Nina said confidently. She stuck out her hand, pressing it to the rock. Suddenly, Nina was thrown into the opposite wall as the rock was blasted apart.

"Nina!" Fabian cried. He caught her just before her head slammed against the cold stone floor. He carried her away as the smoke cleared, setting her down and sitting next to her. "Nina, Nina, are you okay?" he said desperately. "Can you hear me?"

Nina's eyelids fluttered and she looked up into Fabian's blue eyes. "Ow," she groaned.

"Are you okay?" Fabian asked.

Nina sat up weakly, peering through the smoke at the opening in the wall.

"Nina, are you okay?" Fabian repeated.

Nina nodded slightly. "Let's check it out."

Fabian tried to object, but knew Nina was determined, so he took her arm and helped her up.

Nina staggered and leaned against Fabian, crying out.

"What's wrong?"

"My leg!" Nina said. "I think it's broken."  
>Fabian didn't know how to deal with this. "We should go back up. We can come back down tomorrow."<p>

"No!" Nina protested. "No. Let's keep going. Will you help me?"  
>Fabian sighed. "Of course." He said. He put an arm around her waist, and she put her arm around his, hopping on one leg towards the wall that had just blown apart. They found another room, but in this one lay a pile of gold coins.<p>

Nina staggered forward with Fabian's help. "What the…"

Amber walked forward, squealing. "Treasure!"

"No, Amber," Patricia sighed. "It's part of the task!" Amber sighed.

"What do they have on them?" Fabian asked.

"This one has some dude and some kind of plant," Alfie said picking one up.

"There's a lady and the cup on Ankh on this one," Patricia said.

"Do they all have different things on them?" Nina asked curiously.

Amber picked one up. "Looks like it."

Fabian helped Nina sit down, flinching and trying to make it as easy on her as possible. "You okay?"

Nina nodded weakly. "Maybe one of them is the reflector!"  
>Alfie sighed. "But which <em>one?<em>"

"The one with the bird on it!" Amber said.

Patricia rolled her eyes. "We'll just have to check all of them!" She said.

Everyone groaned, and Nina gasped, holding her leg.

Fabian looked at Nina and sighed. "That's it, we are going back up, getting you to someone who can help your leg, and coming back down tomorrow to search the coins."

Nina pouted, but got up with Fabian's assistance and hobbled back out of the tunnels.

Fabian rushed into Nina and Amber's room, pure joy on his face, a golden coin in his palm. He approached Nina, because she was in bed, with the crutches by her. "Nina, I found it! I found the reflector!" he said.

Nina sat up excitedly. "Really?"

Fabian nodded, handing her the coin. Nina turned it over, fingering the bird. "Thanks, Fabian." She said. "For everything."

Fabian smiled at her. "So, shall we go down tonight?"

Nina nodded. She looked up at Fabian, who was perched on the end of her bed. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for never giving up on me."

Fabian smiled down at her, trying not to stutter as he said, "I could never give up on you, Nina." He heard the double meaning behind his words.

Nina grinned at him, and Fabian opened his mouth, trying to choke out the words he'd been trying to say all year. "N-Nina," He said. _Just say it, Stutter Rutter! _His head screamed at him. "I- I- Maybe…" Fabian sighed, looking into Nina's beautiful eyes, he wanted so badly to tell her, but he couldn't choke it out. He felt an imaginary hand slap his back, forcing him to blurt out the words. "I still love you, Nina."  
>Nina's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "You… you loved me?"<br>Fabian couldn't speak. He just nodded.

Nina smiled slightly, her heart leaping in glee. "But… what about Joy?"

"I don't feel that way about Joy. All year, I've been trying to tell her I just want to be friends, because you're the one I like."

Nina full-on beamed now. She leaned up and kissed Fabian, her heart doing cartwheels in happiness. Oh, how she'd missed him. When they pulled away, Nina grinned, leaning her forehead onto his. "I love you."

Fabian smiled. "I love you."

Jerome hated lying to Mara. But he didn't want to make her think he was a thief, a monster. And he didn't want to drag her into this "collector" business. The way Jasper spoke about the Collector, it was as if they were a murderer, or worse. Jerome flashed back to the previous year when Rufus Zeno had been threatening him. He clicked on the e-mail that had just arrived from Jasper.

The Collector likes the dollhouse. Can you get it?

Jerome shivered. He knew he had to get that dollhouse to get back his gem and save Trudy, but Amber and Nina were sure to notice it was missing. He sat back, putting his hands over his face in thought, and trying to decide what to do.

**So, the way I'm doing this is I'm just going to keep responding to the episodes instead of basing the chapters off of each other like a normal story. This chapter was based off of 2-21-12's episode.**


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